your community service hours
Keeping track of your community service hours.
So, beyond the obvious benefit of fulfilling your rank requirement, why bother to actually keep track of your hours? Isn’t it about giving, anyway?
Absolutely!
However, there are good reasons to keep track.
*First: Of course, your rank requirement.
*Second: Several of the merit badges require volunteer hours. If you have previously documented them, you may be able to count them for the badge. For example, if you’ve spent time volunteering for the Salvation Army, your Disabilities Awareness counselor may count that (it would, of course, depend upon what you did.) How about that blood drive you volunteered for? All that orange juice you passed out may very well count toward Medicine — as long as it’s documented. Photos are a great way to do that; so is having the benefiting organization put it in writing.
*Third: Earn your President’s Volunteer Service Award. There are three levels: Bronze (100 hours), Silver (175 hours), Gold (250 hours). They add up quickly and most Scouts should reach the Gold with normal service hours along their journey to Eagle. Awards may be ordered by the troop (or individuals) and presented as an extra-Scouting award, much the same way the religious awards are.
*Fourth: If you’re ambitious, the Congressional Award mirrors the path to Eagle Scout. It requires a lot of pre-planning and quite a bit of paperwork, but the reward is nationally recognized and presented in Washington DC.
*Fifth: College applications. While this is not the reason to do community service, it’s a nice thing to be able to actually show that you put in 300 hours of community service during your high school years (that sounds like a lot, but you’ll likely put in a hundred just on your Eagle project.)
The easiest way to track? The President’s Volunteer Service page will actually keep track FOR YOU. You need only enter the information. If your troop can become a certifying organization, all the better! But a simple excel spreadsheet works well, too. Even just writing it down is better than not. Do it as you complete the hours. Trying to reconstruct it after a few years can be very frustrating.
Keep on volunteering! See the main community service page for ideas.